Since mid-April Americans can benefit from a hugely reduced fee to renounce their US citizenship and many are now opting to take that route, campaigners say.
The Local reported in March this year the long-awaited announcement by the US that the fee for renouncing US citizenship would be cut by 80 percent, ending a six year legal battle by Americans living abroad.
The cost of renouncing citizenship, known as a Certificate of Loss of Nationality (CLN), would drop from an astronomical $2,350 down to $450.
The date for when the new $450 fee would be applied to appointments for renunciation was set at April 13th, this year.
Whilst it’s too early to get new figures to see how many Americans in Europe have moved to renounce their passports since April 13th, campaigners say anecdotal evidence suggests many are now rushing to do so.
Fabien Lehagre, founder and president of the Association of Accidental Americans (AAA), a pressure group pivotal in the campaign to cut the fee, says he has noticed more US nationals moving to renounce.
Lehagre who runs a Facebook group for those wishing to hand over their US passports told The Local: “I have noticed that more and more people are initiating the process of renouncing their American citizenship.
“The main reason is the problems related to Citizenship-Based Taxation.”
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Figures obtained by the AAA earlier this year revealed show that since that 2023 – when authorities first announced they would cut the fee, some 8,755 individuals paid the full $2,350 fee – generating $20.5 million in income for the US government.
In a statement in March this year when the fee was finally cut, Lehagre said: “As Thomas Jefferson stated in 1779, voluntary renunciation of one’s nationality is a natural right inherent to all men.”
‘Accidental Americans’ are US citizens by birthright, due to being born in the US – in many cases their parents left shortly afterwards and they have never been back. Nonetheless, due to the United States’ citizenship-based tax regime, they are deemed by the US to have tax reporting (and potentially tax-paying) obligations for as long as they live.
Americans who emigrate also have to continue completing a US tax return for the rest of their lives – even if they have no income in the US and have lived abroad for decades.
For many Americans abroad these tax commitments have been motivating factors in renouncing their US citizenship.In its press release in March, the State Department recognised the tax complications faced by US nationals abroad, suggesting that the issue had been a major point of contention for the many Americans who contributed feedback to the consultation process.
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“The overwhelming majority of comments . . . including some who did not comment on the proposed fee change at all, expressed frustration with the US system of worldwide taxation of its citizens and the expense associated with compliance with US tax laws. Many reported spending hundreds or thousands of dollars a year on tax professionals, even when they might have no US tax liabilities,” the statement said.
Are you an American in Europe moving to renounce your US citizenship. Email us at news@thelocal.com or share your thoughts and experience for other readers in the comments section below.
